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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26437408">Unchain My Heart</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Huntress79/pseuds/Huntress79'>Huntress79</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Marvel Cinematic Universe</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Friends With Benefits, Friends to Lovers, Penis In Vagina Sex, Post-Avengers (2012) (last part), Steve Rogers and the 21st Century, Steve Rogers is Not a Virgin, Vaginal Sex, from the mid-credit scene in Captain America: The First Avenger on</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 04:41:56</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,650</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26437408</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Huntress79/pseuds/Huntress79</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>She was his guide to this new, modern world, showed him everything he wanted to know and more. And in turn, he slowly unlocked the chains around her heart.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Steve Rogers/Natasha Romanov</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>58</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Het Swap Exchange 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Unchain My Heart</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/flipflop_diva/gifts">flipflop_diva</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>written for HetSwap 2020 and flipflop_diva. Canon divergence from the mid-credit scene in “The First Avenger” on. Mentions of other MCU characters. Title borrowed from a Joe Cocker song. Enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p></p><div class="center">
  <p>*********************</p>
</div><i>SHIELD Headquarters<br/>New York City</i><p>Upon waking, Steve had quite some trouble to get his bearings. The last thing he remembered was the Arctic ice racing towards him, and then… nothing.</p><p>Was this the Heavens Father McMurphy spoke about in Sunday Mass? Would he see his mother again? Or Bucky? Or his father?</p><p>"Oh," a voice cut in from the doorway, "you're awake."</p><p>Sitting up, Steve saw a rather small redhead standing there, her green eyes fixated on him.</p><p>"Hi," Steve began, "Where am I? And how did you find me?"</p><p>For a moment, the redhead seemed to consider her reply. Then, she made two steps toward the bed.</p><p>“As to where you are: you are in New York City.”</p><p>Relief flooded Steve’s systems at hearing this. He had succeeded, then, with keeping the “Valkyrie” and her dangerous freight away from the big cities of the United States.</p><p>“As to how we found you…”</p><p>We? Sure, Steve pretty soon realized that he was in some kind of base, if the non-descript way the room was set up was anything to count for. But was he in an American-friendly place or still on enemy*s land, even if it was smacked in the middle of New York?</p><p>“Who’s we?” he asked, locking his gaze with hers. She held it, didn’t waver at all, not even for a fraction. On the contrary, Steve read something akin to curiosity in the green orbs. “I’ve been to enough military and adjacent bases throughout the war to recognize one when I see it, or better, when I wake up in one.”</p><p>“Interesting,” she mumbled, and if not for the serum, Steve’s ears wouldn’t even have picked it up. But before he could mull about it longer, the door opened, and a tall man in a long black duster came in, emanating authority with every fiber. Try as he might, Steve couldn’t help but sit up a bit straighter.</p><p>“Captain Rogers,” the man began, “I’m Director Nick Fury, and you’re at the New York Headquarters of S.H.I.E.L.D.” He gave a sigh. “We actually had a different plan for you, to get you up to date, but I think it’s better to give you the cold facts.” His eye held Steve’s gaze. “Do you agree?”</p><p>“Yes, sir,” Steve replied. From early on in his life, he preferred the truth and facts over any kind of coddling. Better get to the heart of the matter right away and have more time to deal with the eventual pain than to keep away and get your heart broken, that was his motto.</p><p>“Very well. Let’s go for a walk, Captain,” Fury finally suggested before turning to the woman. “Agent Romanov, you as well.”</p><p>“Aye, sir.” She shortly vanished from the room, only to come back with a large paper back moments later which she handed to Steve. “This should be more suitable for the streets of New York than your current attire,” she quipped with a wink.</p><p>Only then did Steve fully realize that he was not only barefoot, but also only dressed in a thin undershirt and a pair of khakis. Making a quick affair of getting dressed in a pair of jeans, an actual shirt and a leather jacket, as well as a pair of boots, Steve finally stepped out of the room - and stopped dead in his tracks.</p><p>The building around him, or at least what he could see of it, was so completely different from the buildings he remembered from before the war. There was so much glass, so much metal, that he had to put up a hand to shield his eyes from all the reflections.</p><p>“Here,” the woman suddenly spoke up, holding a pair of sunglasses in his line of vision. “You might need it once we get out of it.”</p><p>“So,” Steve began while following Fury through a set of glass doors, “how does a Russian come to work with an US agency?”</p><p>“Long story,” the woman replied, a smile playing at her full lips. “One I might tell you one day, Captain.”</p><p>Ahead of them, Fury came to a stop, and Steve finally took notice of his surroundings. Which, for the second time in short succession, caused his mouth to drop open wide.</p><p>So this was New York? It definitely wasn’t the city he remembered. Sure, he and Bucky hardly got out of Brooklyn, even when he was tagging along on his best friend’s dates, but this all right now felt like a totally different planet.</p><p>“Easy, soldier,” Agent Romanov said from her position next to him, and only then did Steve realize that his breathing had quickened, and for the first time in what apparently was a long time, he felt the once familiar dread of an approaching asthma attack.</p><p>He heard Fury say something to someone into a piece that apparently was in his ear, but with the loud sounds of the city around them, coupled with the rush of blood in his ears, he couldn’t get a single word of it.</p><p>What on God’s green Earth had happened to him? Or to “his” New York?</p><p>Sure, the city was loud even back then, but this, the literal waves of cars in all size, the many people crowding the sidewalks, the bright, huge, flashing ads high above him - that wasn’t the New York he remembered. And somehow, it was simply too much to take in.</p><p>All of a sudden, a hand landed on Steve’s arm - Agent’s Romanov’s, as it turned out. She gave his arm a light squeeze, barely noticeable, and yet, it was enough to divert his focus from this “assault” to his senses to her.</p><p>“I know, Captain, it’s not what you’re probably used of New York City, but I promise, either me or Nick will explain everything, and it might make more sense afterwards.”</p><p>“i hardly believe that, Agent,” Steve gave back. Unless they were mind-readers, how could they even begin to get some order into the mumble-jumble that was his mind right now?</p><p>“Just trust me on this, Captain,” she added before turning back to Nick Fury. “Director, I think it’s better to head back in, before we cause a traffic jam.”</p><p>Fury only nodded, and when she grabbed Steve’s hand, he let her drag him back into the building.</p><div class="center">
  <p>*********************</p>
</div>In the weeks following, Steve not only learned from more than one SHIELD agent that he, somehow, had survived the crash of the “Valkyrie”, only to be trapped and conserved in the Arctic ice for almost 7 decades.<p>Which in turn brought him only new pain, when he realized that, most likely, every single person who he knew right before his heroic act was dead by now.</p><p>On the other hand, though, Steve slowly got a grasp on this new reality he had woken up to.</p><p>And that wasn’t due to the, seemingly unending, slew of so-called “specialists” Fury and the rest of SHIELD sent his way, not in the least. If anything, they gave him a headache on an almost daily basis.</p><p>No, the only person who could explain new things to him in an understandable way was, at the same time, the most intriguing and fascinating one to him.</p><p>Agent Natasha Romanov.</p><p>In some way, she reminded him of Peggy, the way she held herself in almost every situation, and Steve didn’t need a lot of imagination to know that this was most likely the same in a fight. She, more or less, oozed confidence in every move, paired with a body to die for, elegance and a cat-like way to walk. Caught somewhere between shock and amusement, Steve realized that he apparently had a competency kink.</p><p>Long story short, Steve, while hoping that no such situation would actually come up on the horizon, couldn’t wait to see Natasha in action.</p><p>But there was way more to the redhead.</p><p>For a born Russian, she had a better grip on the so-called American Way Of Life than some people born on American soil. Whenever she had time, she picked Steve up from the small apartment SHIELD gave him in New York and introduced him to something new.</p><p>One time, Nat drove them upstate New York for a three-day-weekend filled with a multitude of different foods (as they visited a food festival on all three days), along with concerts from some local musicians, a visit to a gallery, and just relaxing in the beautiful nature around them.</p><p>Another time, she dropped by, wearing a stunning emerald green evening gown, a tuxedo for him in hand and two tickets for a ballet Steve never had heard before. Still, he couldn’t deny her anything already, and so he found himself in a top-seat at the Met, alternating between watching the dancers on stage and Natasha, whose eyes were transfixed on the dancers’ every move.</p><p>And that was how Steve finally found out that, in what Natasha herself referred to as “another life”, she had received a profound ballet education, before her life took a U-turn into the dark.</p><p>She didn’t divulge any details about her ballet days, only that these days were filled with tears and physical pain, but that they still played into her daily life, as they made her more durable and flexible for fighting situations.</p><div class="center">
  <p>*********************</p>
</div>Then Loki and the Chitauri invasion happened, and Steve actually had to rely on the serum to keep him from drooling in public.<p>Natasha was a sight to behold, a force to be reckoned with, a fiery angel delivering death and mayhem to their enemies. Having no fear whatsoever, or at least it seemed that way to Steve, she launched herself first at the approaching aliens, then, with his help, onto one of their flight devices.</p><p>And Steve was on a fast track to fall in love with her completely.</p><p>Which, of course, he never could let her know at all. Quite at the beginning of their friendship, she told him that she saw things like love or a relationship as not ideal to mix with her job, and therefore, she had closed off her heart to these things.</p><p>Steve respected her decision, and therefore, he kept his budding feelings for her to himself, not wanting to lose the only true friend he had made in his “new” normal so far.</p><p>Which is why he actually was quite surprised when Nat not only tracked him down after he left New York with no clear destination (“they call it ‘road trip’ these days, soldier,” she told him with a smile) right outside Kansas City, but also told him that while she didn’t want a relationship, they could enter a “Friends With Benefits” agreement instead.</p><p>Surprising himself, Steve accepted it right away.</p><div class="center">
  <p>*********************</p>
</div><i>Nat’s Safe House (one of many)</i><p>Through the closed blinds, sunlight was trying to get into the room. Blinking the last remnants of sleep away, Steve needed a moment to get his bearings together and realize where he was. When the dots in his head finally connected, he couldn’t help but smile.</p><p>He still has no idea how she tracked him down after they sent off the Asgardians and went their separate ways, but on the other hand, Steve couldn’t care less about it. What happened after he found her on his doorstep, in the middle of nowhere, was already seared into his mind for the rest of his life, and while he firmly kept the lid on his true feelings for her, he was more than ready for some exceptional time in the bedroom.</p><p>“Where’s your mind, soldier?”</p><p>Nat’s voice came from the doorway behind him, soft and warm - two adjectives he wouldn’t have associated with the spy at their first meeting. But like with so many other things he saw in the short time he was in these terrifying new and modern times, she surprised him with new sides on pretty much every day they spent together.</p><p>“Nowhere,” Steve began while turning around to face her, “just thinking.”</p><p>“Uh-oh,” Nat gave back with a shrug while coming up to his side of the bed, naked, her full breasts slightly bouncing. For the first time in a very long time, Steve longed for a pencil and a sketchbook, to capture and preserve this exceptional beauty for all eternity.</p><p>“Why the uh-oh?” Steve asked while sitting up against the headboard.</p><p>“From what I have heard,” she began while climbing on the bed and straddling his lower feet, “thinking can be quite dangerous. Many people have gotten lost in their own mind while doing so.”</p><p>“Really?” Steve tried to give off his best Cap vibe, but judging by the way a smile spread on Natasha’s face, he didn’t succeed at all.</p><p>“Really, but,” she came up towards him a bit, settling down again on his knees, “I think I have a way to get you back from that maze up there.” She tipped a finger at her own temple.</p><p>“You gonna tell me about it?” Steve teased.</p><p>“Nope,” Nat gave back, coming up the rest of the way and straddling his hips slightly, with just the tiniest amount of skin-to-skin contact. “I have a better idea… I’ll show you.”</p><p>Before Steve could even think of any kind of response, Nat claimed his lips in a searing kiss, sending every nerve end in his whole body on fire and leaving him breathless, serum be damned.</p><p>Without breaking their liplock, Nat reached behind her and pulled away the last thing separating their sexes, the bedspread. Electricity began to spread between their bodies, and for the first time since getting the injections, Steve really was grateful for some of the side effects of the serum.</p><p>Natasha brought him back to reality by closing one of her hands around his cock and giving it a few experimental strokes before sinking down on him, causing them both to groan loudly.</p><p>In a swift move, Steve rolled them sideways and got a medium-fast rhythm going. Once he had the preferred speed, he grabbed Nat’s hands at the wrists, brought them up over her head and held them there with just one hand.</p><p>The other hand, though, began to explore her body, searing every millimeter of her skin into his brain for all eternity. His mouth followed the path his fingers drew, sucking a hickey into her collarbone before focusing on her nipples.</p><p>First, Steve took them into his mouth, sucking slightly and giving it a light tug with his teeth, followed by lavishing them with broad strokes of his tongue. Beneath him, Natasha was turned into a delicious mess (at least to his eyes), her red locks spreading like wildfire on the pillow, due to her moving her head back and fro in the frenzy of desire he had worked her into.</p><p>The air in the room was filled with their groans and moans, and slowly but steady, they both came closer to the only abyss they would ever seek at their own volition.</p><p>“Steve…,” Natasha grounded out, her whole body starting to undulate. Steve didn’t reply her verbally, only gave a quick nod before increasing the speed once more. He already could feel her walls clenching around his cock, and he himself wasn’t faring any better, his balls drawing closer to his body.</p><p>Only heartbeats later, the proverbial bough broke, and both Steve and Nat were lost in the throes of their orgasms. Pulling out of her as gentle as possible, Steve laid down next to her, and Natasha didn’t waste any time to “relocate” herself into the cradle of his strong arms, giving a soft sigh while doing so.</p><p>In no time at all, Nat was fast asleep, and before Steve followed her into Morpheus’ arms, he gave a light kiss to the wild mess that was her hair, and whispered an “I love you” into the locks.</p><div class="center">
  <p>*********************</p>
  <p>The End</p>
  <p>*********************</p>
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